A New Life
by SCUZ
Summary: The sequel to my previous fic, The Chicago Way. Only two chapters, but more are coming. R&R.
1. Home?

Nathan set his duffel bag on the floor of his new room. The pristine walls and spotless carpeting all looked alien to him. A familiar voice could be heard from behind him, "Do you like it?"  
  
Nathan knew the voice was Kitty's. He responded, "It's very clean." He walked in further and looked at the soft blue drapes hanging over the windows. In his old home there were few, if any drapes on the windows and those were usually stained and dusty. He turned to Kitty, still looking around the room. "Are you sure this is mine?"  
  
Kitty giggled softly. "I told you it was great here. C'mon I'll, like, show you the swimming pool."  
  
She ran down the hall like a child on Christmas day. Nathan lumbered behind and looked around at the luxury of the mansion. "Daaamn." He said to himself. As he made his way down the hall he felt a sudden burst of wind from behind him. He felt a gloved hand tap him on the shoulder and he immediately swung around and grabbed the person by the neck. "Agh! Nein! Nein! I didn't do anyzing!" Nathan arched a brow at the blue...whatever he was holding. Slowly he set the person down and looked at him. "Who the hell?"  
  
"My name iz Kurt. I juzt vanted to velcome you to your new home. Zorry if I ztartled you." The blue person said with a smile, rubbing his neck.  
  
"Ah, so you're the Kurt Kitty told me about." Nathan paused and looked at the short mutant. "Somehow I expected much worse."  
  
Kurt leaned up against the wall. "Zo, vhat is your gift?"  
  
"They tell me I can stop things dead in their tracks, but to tell you the truth I'm not sure if I can actually do it." Nathan looked at Kurt. "What about you?"  
  
"Vatch this!" Kurt suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared clinging to an overhead light by his tail. Nathan applauded as Kurt jumped down again. "Damn, that's pretty cool." Nathan said. He continued walking to the door and Kurt followed.  
  
"Zo vhere are you going?" Kurt asked.  
  
"Kitty's gonna show me the pool. I still haven't had the grand tour yet." They both looked outside and saw her frantically cleaning around the swimming pool so as to make a good impression with the new mutant. Kurt and Nathan went outside and looked at Kitty. Kurt cleared his throat and Kitty immediately jumped with a start. She noticed a Beefy Burger wrapper in her hand and she quickly hid it behind her. "Like, uh, these guys are pigs around here so don't mind the mess."  
  
Nathan couldn't help but laugh. "Kitty, are you sure you got a good look at where I lived before? This is the friggen Ritz Hotel compared to my old house. Hell, I remember Tommy used to leave his old toys lying around all the time-" Nathan stopped and lowered his head. His family had been dead for less than a week and the shock of their death was still present in his mind. Kitty saw the look on his face and went to put her arm around him. "C'mon, let's go see the rest of the grounds." She said softly.  
  
Kitty spent a few hours showing Nathan the facilities at the mansion that were known to the public: the gymnasium, the garden and the garage. When they entered the garage, Scott was working on an old sports car, probably an Austin Healy from what Nathan could tell. He walked over to the car and ran his hand along the side panel. "Nice wheels." He said.  
  
Scott stood up and admired his work. "Yeah, she's a beut isn't she? Three hundred horsepower, six speed transmission and a smudge proof finish." He looked at Nathan. "You wanna take it for a spin?"  
  
"Seriously?" Nathan asked, surprised.  
  
"Sure, you know how to drive stick, right?" Scott said as he tossed the keys into Nathan's hands.  
  
"Yeah," Nathan hopped in the driver's seat and started the car. Suddenly a gruff voice came from behind them. "Not so fast, kid. Xavier wants to see you." Nathan looked around and saw Logan standing there. After turning off the car, he tossed the keys back to Scott. "Maybe later."   
  
Nathan was led to Xavier's office where the professor was reading an assortment of papers. Xavier looked up from his work and spoke, "I trust you're finding your accommodations satisfactory?"  
  
Nathan nodded.  
  
"And how are you getting along with the others?" Xavier asked.  
  
"Well, sir, everyone is a lot nicer than I thought they would be. To tell you the truth they make me suspicious; I haven't known anyone that's as immediately accepting as them." Nathan replied.  
  
"They are unique. They each know what it's like to be different themselves." Xavier added.  
  
"I've never been different before, Professor." Nathan said.  
  
"Does it bother you?" Xavier asked.  
  
"Does what bother me?"  
  
"The fact that they support you despite your feeling no different from before."  
  
"No, it's just a little strange, that's all." Nathan said.  
  
Xavier moved his wheelchair towards Nathan's seat and handed him the papers he was reading before. "I've taken the liberty of enrolling you in the local high school. Your grades from the previous years were exceptional, so you should not have any trouble with normal progression."  
  
"Thanks," Nathan said while flipping through the folders.  
  
"I have also asked Jean to take time out to help you with your abilities. Her gift is the most similar to yours."  
  
__________________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
"No, focus on it. When I throw the ball to you, you stop it." Jean threw the basketball at Nathan. In the second it flew through the air, Nathan stopped it, but not as Jean had hoped.  
  
"Sorry, force of habit." Nathan said, dropping the ball from his hands.  
  
Jean pulled the ball back to her, gave it a dribble and threw it again. Nathan focused on the ball, trying to recreate the events that brought on his powers before. It worked, to a degree; the ball slowed down, and Nathan caught it again.  
  
"Good, you're getting better." Jean said. "Let's try it again."  
  
This repetitive activity went on for hours. With each attempt he got better, but basketballs soon became too easy. He increased the speed of the object and decreased the size, starting with soccer balls, eventually moving up to a paintball gun shot. The first couple shots hit home, but as he learned to time the sound of the gun, he managed to stop the ball right in front of him. Jean smiled and set the paintball gun down. "All right, that's enough for today. It's getting late."  
  
"Okay, thanks a lot, Jean."  
  
"Tomorrow we'll see if you can actually move things like I can." Jean said.  
  
Nathan waved as she picked up her backpack and walked away. Nathan always was somewhat of a night person, so he decided to go for a walk. He took a tennis ball with him, occasionally throwing it into the air and stopping it before it landed on his head for practice. He viewed the grounds, which looked much different at night. The moonlight against the trees gave the illusion that the trees drooped to the ground. He stood there; admiring the scenery when out of nowhere something grabbed his tennis ball. He turned around to see that smelly, disgusting man he knew all too well as Toad tossing the ball up and down. "So, like your new home, Foo?"  
  
"I should have killed you when I had the chance." Nathan snarled.  
  
"Yeah, well, too late for could'ves. You may have put my buddy Lance outta commission, but you can count of me fuckin' you up good."   
  
"You're all talk, cesspool." Nathan dashed at Toad, missing completely as the dirty man leapt out of the way. Toad countered by lashing his tongue out at Nathan, but found that hitting him was harder than he thought. Toad's tongue stopped in mid air as Nathan held it in place with his mind. No matter how much he squirmed, Toad could not get his tongue free. Nathan used the opportunity to whip out his butterfly knife and sever the section of tongue in his grasp. A spray of vile saliva mixed with blood flew through the air right before Toad retracted the remainder of his tongue. "Gaaa! Wht thhh fffck!" Toad exclaimed, cradling his mouth as it poured blood. Nathan got into a fighting pose and stared the grimy mutant down. "That all you got, cocksucker?"   
  
Toad sneered as best he could with a severed tongue and hopped away, out of a fight. Nathan spat at the ground as the mutant fled. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from behind him: it was Scott. "Nathan! Are you okay?"  
  
Scott ran up to Nathan, who was looking in Toad's direction. "I'm fine, better than slimeball over there anyway."  
  
Scott noticed the severed section of Toad's tongue lying on the ground. He looked up and noticed blood on Nathan's hand. "You did that?"  
  
"Scott, I ate punks like that for breakfast back home. The only difference between him and them is the retractable tongue. They're all the same at heart." Nathan started walking. "C'mon, let's get outta here."  
  



	2. The Start of Something Good

The next day was a school day. Nathan wasn't used to getting up for school, not since his father died. The alarm went off, causing Nathan to violently grab it from the nightstand and throw it at the wall. Someone knocked on the door. He couldn't be sure, but it sounded like a woman's footsteps walking in. Groggy, Nathan let out a groan and rolled over onto his pillow, grinding his spiky stubble against the pillow.  
  
"Rise and shine, it's time to go to school."  
  
The voice was unfamiliar. Nathan flicked open an eye to see a white haired black woman dressed in a Caribbean outfit. He let out a grumbled sentence, "Who are you?"  
  
"My name is Ororo and you need to get to class."  
  
"You a friend of Xavier's?" Nathan asked, rising from bed.  
  
"Yes, I'm sorry, I wasn't here when you moved in."  
  
Nathan stretched and looked at the mess of wires and smashed plastic on the floor. Ororo smiled. "It happens surprisingly often around here. Don't worry about it." She opened the window shades, gave a quick smile and walked out of the room.  
  
"Right," Nathan uttered, more awake now. He reached over the side of his bed and found a pair of blue jeans. The fabric was still stained with the blood and putrid saliva from his fight with Toad the previous night. Tossing the jeans in the hamper, he searched through his drawers. With every article of clothing he pulled out, he discovered that they were dirty. "Shit." He said, remembering that he was due to take his laundry to the cleaner's back home. He got out of bed, changing into a pair of boxer shorts and walking down the hall.  
  
He passed Scott's room and gave a short knock on the door. "Hey man, I need to borrow some clothes."  
  
Scott opened the door and saw Nathan in his boxers. "What? You didn't pack anything?"  
  
"No, fuckface. Now let me borrow some clothes or I'm gonna take them from you."  
  
"All right, all right," Scott threw up his hands and searched through his dresser, pulling out a pair of khakis. Nathan threw them on. "Thanks man, I owe you."  
  
"Yeah, fine. Just don't go around telling people you're wearing my clothes." Scott said jokingly.  
  
Nathan chuckled and proceeded down the hall. Kitty emerged from her room and walked along side him. "Like, do you want to carpool?"  
  
"I don't think I have much of a choice. Until Xavier gives me a car I'll have to ride with you guys." He saw Kitty's expression light up at this information and smiled. She made a slight humming sound, indicating that she was thinking of something to say. "Uh, do you want to do something after school?"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Um, I dunno, like maybe I could show you around town?" Kitty's eyes became hopeful. Nathan thought about it, but in the end he couldn't resist her girlish charms. "Sure, why not?"  
  
"Really? Great!"  
  
She ran ahead, grabbing her books and jumping out the door as if she was trying to make the day pass quicker. Nathan laughed slightly at her antics and walked out the door. A girl with pale skin and dark red hair with a white streak through it walked by. Nathan arched a brow at the new girl. "Wait, how many of you guys are there?"  
  
"Oh, hi. I'm Marie." The girl stopped and extended her hand. Nathan arched a brow at her hand as it was gloved. "You know, I don't have cooties, there's no need for the glove."  
  
Marie's face changed from smiling to plain. "I guess he doesn't know, does he?" She said to the others already in the car.  
  
"Know what?" Nathan looked puzzled.  
  
Jean walked by Nathan as she left the house. "Marie's power is the ability to drain the energy of others. She takes their abilities, their memories and, in the case of mutants, their powers."  
  
Nathan looked at Jean and then back at Marie. "Cool,"  
  
Marie smiled slightly at Nathan's attitude towards her. "C'mon guys, we're gonna be late." a voice from inside the car said. Nathan looked and saw a young black kid wearing skater's clothing. After everyone was in the car, they drove to school.  
  
The day was uneventful for the most part; Nathan adapted quickly to the school setting and eventually remembered everything he learned before. During lunch he sat with Kitty -- or she sat with him in actuality. He was minding his own business when he noticed a young kid with glasses being pinned up against the wall by another kid wearing a football jacket.  
  
"Where is it, punk?" The jock said, lifting the kid higher by the collar.  
  
"I don't know, man! Come on, let me go!"  
  
"Not until I get it back!"  
  
The tables turned when Nathan grabbed the jock by the shoulders, spun him around and clasped his hand around the jock's neck. "You touch this kid again and I'll gut you like a fish!"  
  
The jock squirmed; unable to break free of Nathan's crushing grip. Nathan squeezed tighter. "Got it?"  
  
The jock nodded, as best he could and Nathan dropped him. The jock stumbled to his feet and ran away coughing. The kid with glasses started to run in fear of Nathan, but was stopped. Nathan held the kid by the shoulder and walked in front of him. "What was it that he wanted?"  
  
The kid shivered in fear at Nathan's grip. "H-His H-Homework! He made me do it!"  
  
"Relax, kid. You don't have to do his work anymore. Now run along." Nathan let go and the kid ran away, leaving behind a stream of urine. Kitty sighed and looked dreamily at Nathan before he came back to the table, grumbling.  
  
"That was, like, such a nice thing you did."  
  
"I never cared for jocks, Kitty. That punk just pushed me over the edge."  
  
Kitty scooted ever so slightly closer to Nathan, trying to get him to touch her. She desperately wanted to experience that feeling from when he held her in his arms, even if it meant only a small piece of that feeling. Why can't I just ask him out? Why am I such a chicken around him? I want him to touch me, to put his arms around me, but I just can't bring myself to ask him. She thought.  
  
"Something wrong?" Nathan asked Kitty.  
  
She swallowed hard and shifted her eyes. "No! I mean, no I'm fine."  
  
Nathan shrugged and continued eating. She looked at him, in complete awe thinking, why can't he just ask me out and make my life easier? Doesn't he know that I would say yes? She picked up a frenched fry, slowly nibbling on it as she covertly stared at him through the corner of her eye. God I want him so much. Her stomach began to churn and she felt her skin develop goose bumps. Nathan finished and got up to leave. She watched him, those strong muscles flexing as he walked. A moment later Jean pulled up a chair and waved her hand in front of Kitty's face. "Yo, you still on earth, girl?"  
  
"I was just thinking of him. I really want to see him in the pool!"  
  
Jean giggled. "Yeah, I bet he looks great in a Speedo!"  
  
Kitty giggled, blushing heavily. Jean gave a slight smirk as she examined Kitty's face. "You've got a crush on him, don't you?"  
  
Kitty, being a giddy young schoolgirl, normally would have denied any accusation of a crush. But for some reason she didn't have the strength to lie this time. "Yes,"  
  
"Why don't you ask him out?" Jean asked, taking a bite of her sandwich.  
  
"I, like, want to, but I just can't do it. I'm too nervous."  
  
Jean laughed. "I understand. Just take a few deep breaths and relax."  
  
After school, Kitty waited for Nathan outside. When he came by, she immediately started walking beside him. "So, how was your day?"  
  
"I think I'm getting the hang of this school gig." Nathan said, "So where are we going?"  
  
"Um, we could go to the arcade, or the park." Kitty began to feel her pulse race. "W-What do you want to do?"  
  
"Whatever, I'll leave it up to you."  
  
Kitty began to envision hundreds of things she would *like* to do with Nathan, but instead came up with a milder idea. "Wanna go ice skating?"  
  
"In June?"  
  
"There's an indoor place in town. C'mon, it'll be fun."  
  
Nathan smiled and gestured forward. "Lead the way."  
  
A short time later they were at the skating rink. Fortunately, it was close by so they didn't have to drive. They both put on their skates, wobbling slightly as they walked on the ground to the ice. Nathan set foot on the ice and immediately took a tumble, holding on to the side railing for support. "It's been a while."  
  
Kitty giggled and helped him up, finally getting that chance to touch him she was hoping for. He clung on to her hand for support, causing Kitty to gasp slightly. He's touching me! He's holding my hand! She thought. The emotional deluge of excitement and surprise caused Kitty to lose her balance, tumbling over onto the ice and landing on her butt. Nathan followed soon after, landing on top of her in an awkward position. She felt her heart pounding through her chest as he lied on top of her. He smiled and slowly lifted himself up. "Ouch." He said, chuckling.  
  
They stayed on the ice for an hour, losing their balance at least a dozen times. Kitty felt so nervous she was sure her heart was about to leap out of her chest at any moment. After their time at the ice rink, Nathan called a cab. "Thanks, Kitty. That was fun."  
  
"Yeah, we should do it again some time." She stumbled over her words, "Uh, go skating that is!"  
  
The taxi stopped and they both got in, Kitty slightly brushing against Nathan as she sat down. As they were driving home, she couldn't help but stare at him. Whenever he caught on, she would immediately turn her head and face the front seat. When they got home, Nathan stopped Kitty outside her room. "Well, thanks for the fun time today."  
  
"Like, no problem." Damnit, I'm doing it again. Ugh, I wish I wouldn't get so nervous around him! She thought.  
  
"Well, I better go take care of my homework. See you later." With that Nathan gave her a kiss on the cheek, nothing romantic, just a friendly kiss between close friends. Regardless of its intent, the kiss made Kitty blush so profusely it appeared as if she suffered severe sunburn. Nathan walked away and Kitty slowly stumbled into her room. She took a few steps, completely stupefied, and collapsed on the bed.  



End file.
